As product demand continues to rise, companies in all industries are partnering with third-party logistics (3PL) providers to ensure their products are delivered to customers on time and cost effectively.

As shippers evaluate existing, merged, or new 3PL providers, they should also be aware of their own processes and approach to vendor relationships and choose partners that best align with their strategies and needs.

Nutrabolt’s rapid growth created several logistics challenges, including processing orders efficiently and quickly; absorbing dramatic swings in order volumes to support promotional campaigns; and providing omni-channel fulfillment through a single warehouse. A third-party logistics partnership with Kane Is Able helped Nutrabolt meet these challenges.

3PLs tout IoT as top disruptive innovation in the supply chain; Hyundai and Accenture team up to design smarter ship; TMS use has tripled over the past decade; new sustainability web platform helps shippers assess key trends and best practices.

Challenging weather and a remote location make delivering freight to and from Alaska a complex operation. To simplify operations, many shippers turn to transportation companies and logistics service providers that have the expertise to make sure freight flows smoothly despite the complexities.

Determining the best location for a new or expanding business in an increasingly competitive and global marketplace is challenging. These locations offer a number of advantages when it comes to meeting today’s logistics and supply chain needs.

As manufacturers strive to strike the perfect balance between parts delivered and parts consumed in production, technology innovations allow logistics providers to ensure companies receive only the parts they need when they need them, writes John Paugh of Carter Logistics.

If shippers use their third-party logistics partners for more than brokerage—not just as tactical providers, but as strategic partners—a whole new world of logistics excellence and accomplishments could open up, writes Inbound Logistics Publisher Keith Biondo.

Many companies, including Kimberly-Clark, Ebro, and USG Corporation, are moving beyond the traditional, transactional shipper-3PL relationship to form collaborative partnerships focused on mutual gain.

Most logistics outsourcers today use an RFQ to select their 3PLs. But that model is outdated and ineffective. A handful of forward-thinking shippers and logistics providers are instead embracing a collaborative outsourcing method, with powerful results.

Small and mid-sized manufacturers lack the scale to ship in full truckloads, creating thousands of separate, inefficient lines of supply—all moving to the same mass retailers. Collaborative distribution reduces the number of trucks on the road and cuts distribution costs.

In early 2017, major ocean cargo carriers further consolidated from four alliances to three that dominate global trade. Because this change impacts shippers in a number of ways that include lanes and ports of call, it’s important to know how best to work with them to minimize risks. Experts share best practices that will help.

As ocean shipping becomes increasingly digitized, blockchain will play a key role, providing authenticated data and bringing costs down. Here’s what SMBs should be doing now to get ready for a blockchain future.

Choosing the third-party logistics partner (3PL) that has the resources and expertise to handle every fulfillment challenge will help suppliers adapt to ever-evolving market conditions and complex customer requirements.

By quickly adapting to various industries and commodities and responding to client requests with urgency and an extremely high level of customer service quality, a strong 3PL will find it can outlast even the most convenient warehousing options.

Transparency, honest communication, and a commitment to forming a true partnership with shared goals and values are keys to successful supply chain collaboration between shippers and their third-party logistics providers.

3PL warehouses are not only in demand, but in a position of strength. This provides 3PL operators a unique opportunity to build lasting relationships with key customers, suppliers, and retailers of their choice.

Most companies have insurance to protect their property and equipment, their vehicles, and their operations from disruptions due to natural disasters and other events. For companies with extensive supply chains, cargo insurance can be an important addition to this list.

South Korean ocean liner Hanjin Shipping files for bankruptcy protection in a dozen countries; Few respondents to a GT Nexus survey say they have a chief supply chain officer on hand who would be equipped to deal with supply chain disruptions; Maersk splits its transportation and oil businesses

Hiring challenges in the supply chain sector include attracting the best talent, developing leaders, and retaining high performers. To solve these issues, employers must step up and build training programs that instill passion, share purpose, provide clear leadership and promotion tracks, are authentic, and ultimately diminish turnover.

Inbound Logistics talks to carriers and third-party logistics (3PL) providers about sure-fire ways to save money on LTL shipments and serves up a list of 18 tips that will help shippers of all types and sizes.

When shippers pair an import transport move with an export transport move inland, without returning empty to the port, they get a matchback or street-turn. Optimizing these street-turns can improve supply chains.

When evaluating your needs for a transportation management system it’s important to look beyond technology and consider who will manage planning and execution. Use this advice to determine if a managed service provider will deliver greater value than developing an in-house team.

Emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things, 3-D printing, collaborative robotics, self-driving trucks, drones and the Uberization of deliveries are poised to be disruptive influences on logistics in the coming years.

Supply chain logistics companies view veterans as a crucial pool of potential employees, and consequently they are using a range of methods to recruit and hire former members of the military for their workforces.

The Panama Canal expansion, completed on June 26, 2016, will have an ever-widening impact on cargo flow across North America. Here's how the culmination of this decade-long expansion project will rewrite the rules of shipping.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) implemented the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) requirement to verify container weight as a condition to load marine cargo into a ship. It recently issued a memo on how to enforce the requirement for three months after July 1, 2016 when it will go into effect. How should shippers interpret this update?

The cornerstone of collaborative logistics is timely visibility. Data about orders, inventory, transportation, and spend need to all funnel into a common denominator big data repository and be readily accessible.

From well-designed redundancies across intermodal shipping methods to creative solutions when the unexpected happens, Georgia’s logistics industry is positioned to help shippers connect, compete, and grow.

It is critical that 3PLs take a hard look at operations to determine areas for cost reduction, productivity and efficiency improvements, and opportunities for new service offerings and revenue streams.

The booming liquor business has added several layers of complexity to the supply chain with the addition of many new product SKUs. Shippers are using technology, data, and collaboration to keep the supply chain moving efficiently.

Contract manufacturer Apex International had seen its growth halt as it struggled to deliver products on time and provide sufficient quality control. With the help of Simpler Consulting, Apex adopted Lean management principles to transform its culture and return the company to a path of growth.

No matter how thoroughly safety training requirements are followed, there are still likely to be gaps in your company’s loading dock safety efforts. Use these tips to better shape safety training plans.

Today’s supply chain environment is more complex than ever, and it is important for business partners to work together across the value chain with the intent to maximize the benefit to their customers .

United States and Canada are investing $7 billion in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence system; Changing political relations between the United States and Cuba could signal new trade opportunities; UK faces a truck driver shortage among younger people; Panama approves new port development

To mark SmartWay's 10th anniversary, several shipper partners share their best tactics for getting the most out of the program... Sourcing and procurement functions have become areas of core incompetency says new survey.

Technology is enabling an unprecedented level of transparency and communication to help shippers and their logistics providers understand each other's operations, and collaborate in ways that were much more difficult in the past.

Pilot program uses drones to deliver time-sensitive goods; Canadian government lines up two new bilateral trade agreements; Labor rights causing supply chain disruption; Using social media to understand carrier usage.

As intermodal grows, so do its challenges. Increasing cargo volumes create bottlenecks and congestion; while the capacity shortage has everyone scrambling. How are shippers and service providers coping? This article helps solve the dilemma.

Energy companies have responded to the escalating cost of doing business by looking for savings in the indirect material supply chain. As a result, many are struggling to optimize maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) functions.

A well-oiled trading partner network allows one-to-many and many-to-many partners to collaborate and communicate using a single source of truth garnered from real-time information, writes Christopher P. Mazza of IAS.

To preserve working capital and promote flexibility, many companies choose to leverage the capabilities of a third-party-logistics (3PL) provider for carrier spend, facility occupancy, and more, writes John Wagner Jr. of Wagner Logistics.

Shippers want 3PL partners that not only responsively evolve service networks and capabilities to flex with the market, but also can anticipate and be ready to meet future service requirements, writes Ray Greer of BNSF Logistics.

By identifying the value-adds that brand and retail shippers want, logistics providers can position their offerings to bring millions in benefits to their customers and make the relationship stick, writes Greg White of Blue Ridge.

Supply chain partners are taking cues from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and making concerted efforts to share and apply security best practices throughout their organizations and supply chain operations, says Howard Finkel of COSCO Container Lines Americas.

Companies are increasingly realizing that supply chain must become a core competency. Adding a supply chain control tower and taking on the fourth-party logistics (4PL) role offers them the ability to accelerate collaboration and achieve higher performance levels.

Demand for less-than-containerload (LCL) services is rising among global importer and exporters whose business models rely on cost, inventory control, and supply chain visibility. Greg Scott of CEVA Logistics discusses how the oil and gas, retail, and automotive industries are using LCL services to their advantage.

Shippers that use only the transactional solutions offered by their 3PL partners are missing the opportunity to benefit from advanced logistics solutions and expertise they helped pay to initiate, implement, and build-out, writes Publisher Keith Biondo.

Capable third-party logistics (3PL) providers can help you manage rising logistics costs because they have highly developed processes and critical infrastructures in place, writes Brad Constantini, Comprehensive Logistics.

Responding to our annual Readers' Choice Top 10 3PL Excellence survey, Inbound Logistics readers voted on the best third-party logistics providers and related the ways in which they count on their 3PLs.

Containerization reshaped ocean shipping, spurring further innovations such as bigger ships, giant cranes, suburban ports, and intermodal transportation. Future trends will include challenges including how to accommodate ever-larger ships, how to guarantee a chassis supply for shippers and how the dynamics of fuel costs, vessel size, and sailing schedules will impact container rates.

If you don't file accurate import data with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, you put your company at risk for penalties and fines, warns Kevin Shoemaker, director, global solutions for Integration Point Inc.

Logistics service providers are eligible for a range of certifications, such as C-TPAT, SmartWay, FAST, and IATA. But what they must do to qualify, and why should these certifications matter to shippers?

U.S. transportation spending lags, according to Transportation Performance Indexes; International air cargo traffic increases; Ocean volumes rise; Large corporations band together to help smaller suppliers sell goods and services to global companies.

Shippers shouldn't assume all on-time performance is created equal. Make sure every dollar you spend counts by choosing carriers who provide honest, accurate metrics, and foster innovation to improve your business.

Retailers publish routing guides to establish rules for manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors to follow when fulfilling and shipping orders. Here are the benefits of establishing a routing guide.

Companies that combine the reduce, reuse, recycle mantra with the supply chain wisdom of managing costs and stamping out inefficiencies are developing reverse supply chains that help the Earth, the customer, and the bottom line.

Panama Canal welcomes largest capacity container vessel to date through expanded locks; latest research shows a drop in international retailers offering free returns; The global forecast for the refrigerated transport market through 2022; what does the future of marine technology hold

When weighing ocean transportations options, you want more than the price. You want the full picture. Cost, time, quality and risk assessment are some of the many parameters that need consideration. Among the plethora of ocean transportation options is Roll-on Roll-off, better known as RoRo.

Selecting a transportation mode and carrier isn’t as simple as identifying the fastest or least expensive option. It’s a complicated process that takes into account timelines and risks as well as budgets. Industry experts share best practices that will help save money and prevent costly mistakes.

Broward County's Port Everglades received unanimous approval from the Broward County Board of County Commissioners to begin a $437.5 million expansion project to add new berths for larger cargo ships and install crane rail infrastructure for new Super Post-Panamax cranes.

Spring cargo numbers from the St. Lawrence Seaway and U.S. ports are signaling a better year for Great Lakes-Seaway shipping. According to the latest figures from the St. Lawrence Seaway, total cargo shipments via the Seaway from the start of the shipping season (March 20 through April 30) reached 3.7 million metric tons, up 8% from the same period a year ago.

South Carolina Ports Authority had its strongest April container volumes on record, with 189,315 twenty foot-equivalent units (TEUs) handled last month. In addition to being the strongest April in SCPA history, last month’s volumes were the second-highest ever handled by the Port.

Organizations have already begun to transition the delivery of supply chain and logistics services from an internal model to an external one, says a recent market study by KPMG and HfS Research. Here's how companies should leverage future trends revealed by the study to create intelligent supply chains.

The new shipping alliances that came into effect a month ago are unlikely to increase ocean freight competitiveness between the United States and its NAFTA partners, according to iContainers, an online freight forwarder.

Vendor-managed inventory partnerships strive to improve efficiency by allowing suppliers to maintain the inventory of their products at the stores and other locations operated by their partners in the supply chain. VMI relies on a tight-knit collaboration between supplier and buyer to improve product availability while decreasing excess inventory.